Lens cutting attachment for a lens edging machine



E. H. NOVAK 3,105,302

LENS CUTTING ATTACHMENT FOR A LENS EDGING MACHINE Oct. 1, 1963 2Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 6. 1961 1 v a Z Z 8 8 re 5 V mw w w 1 m 1 flllll ll a n 4 "JJIIIS ,'r M F 5 5 1 7 .huH| v 1. 4 a g 9 2 M M 4: 3 7? wn 5 WH w 1H n ill.

INVENTOE ATTO RN EYS Oct. 1, 1963 E. H. NOVAK 3,105,302

LENS CUTTING ATTACHMENT FOR A LENS EDGING MACHINE Filed Feb. 6, 1961 2sheets-sheet 2 EZRA? H NovnK INVENTOR BY MM AT TO RN E-YS 3,105,392 LENSCUTTING ATTACHMENT FOR A LENS EDGRNG MACHINE Ezra H. Novak, 5850 W. PicoBlvd, Los Angeles, Calif. Filed Feb. 6, H61, tier. No. 87,333 7 Claims.(Cl. 33-28) My present invention has to do with the art of cutting andshaping lenses, and particularly spectacle lenses, and has moreparticularly to do with a device adapted for attachment to lens-edgingapparatus such, for instance, as the lens edger shown in my co-pendingapplication for United States Letters Patent, Serial No. 816,328, filedMay 27, 1959, now Patent No. 3,014,314, to enable a lens to be cutpreparatory to the edging and finishing operation.

It is an object of my invention to provide a device of this characterwhich may be quickly attached to and detached from a lens-edgingapparatus in such manner as to utilize the lens holding and operatingmechanism of the edger to which it is attached.

Another object is to provide an attachment of this sort which renders itunnecessary for a user to maintain two complete and separate machines,one for cutting the lens, generally to size and shape, and another foredging and finishing the lens.

A still further object is to provide an attachment of this characterwhich is highly efficient, economical of manufacture, extremely simpleto use, which, when not in use, may remain attached to the edgingapparatus without interfering with the normal operation of the latter.

Other objects and advantages will appear hereinafter.

I will point out in the appended claims the features which I believe tobe new, but, for the purpose of explaining and enabling those skilled inthe art to understand and practice my invention, 1 shall now describe indetail a presently preferred embodiment thereof, for which purpose itshall refer to the accompanying drawing, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a front elevational view, with parts shown in section;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view;

FIG. 3 is a side elevational view, additonally showing, by broken lines,the inoperative position of the attachment;

FIG. 4 is a view taken on line 44 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged view, partly in section and partly in elevation;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary view taken on line 6-6 of FIG. 5, and

FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken on line 77 of FIG. 1.

In the accompanying drawing, the numeral 5 generally denotes myattachment device mounted on the housing or body of a lens-edgingmachine, generally denoted 6. The lens-edging machine has chucks 16 forholding therebetween a lens L to be cut as to diameter and peripheralshape. Chuck 16 is secured on a driven shaft 18 of the edging apparatuswhile chuck 15 is carried on an axially, adjustable and rotatablymounted shaft 20, so that it may be moved toward and away from the chuck16 to engage and disengage the lens L between the chucks. Conventionalmeans, not shown, are provided for axially moving the shaft 20. Theshaft 18 is rotated by a conventional driving connection, not shown,between a motor, not shown, and the shaft, to rotate the chucks and thelens mounted therebetween. A conventional template 25 is carried by theedging apparatus 6 to rotate with the shaft :18, the periphery of thetemplate defining the shape to which the lens L is to be cut.

My attachment device comprises an upwardly tapering post 36 which isheld in inclining position by an attaching plate 32 secured to thehousing of the edging appara- 3,.l'5fih-Z Patented Get. 1, 1963 tus, asby screws '34. The post 30 has an axial bore 36 in which a plunger 38 isreciprocably mounted. A compression spring 40 is mounted in the bore,bearing at its top end against an annular flange 42 on the plunger andhearing at its bottom end against a set-screw 43 threadedly mounted inthe bottom end of the post, so that the compression of the spring may beadjusted. The plunger is thus yieldably urged upwardly so that the topend frictionally engages a reduced diameter portion 45 of a tubularshaft '46 rotatably mounted in the bore 47 of a cross member 48 carriedby the post. The cross member is preferably, though not necessarily,made integral with the post. At a portion spaced approximately 180 fromthe position of FIG 3, the reduced diameter portion 45 of said shaft hasa flattened portion 49, as best shown in FIG. 7, so that, when theflattened portion 49 is engaged by the plunger 38, the spring loadedplunger resists rotation of the shaft and holds the parts in theinoperative or roken line position of 'FIG. 3. A torsion spring 50 ismounted in the cross member 48 around the shaft 46 to so bias the shaftas to urge the template engaging member, to be hereinafter described,against the periphery of the template.

An arm 55 is secured at its top end to the projecting left end of shaft46 and carries at its bottom or free end a template engaging memberassembly, generally denoted 6% As best shown in FIG. 3, the member 60includes a screw 65 threaded through the internally threaded bossportion 66 of the arm 55. The outer end of the screw has a triangulartemplate engaging member 68 secured thereto by means of a screw 69, andthe member 68 has a lateral extension 7% carrying an indicator rod 72presenting calibrations 73. The end of rod 72 at the head of screw 65 isrecessed at 72a, the periphery of said head extending into the recess,and the end of said rod has a transverse notch with which calibrationson said head may be coordinated to indicate the extent of adjustment.

A second arm 75 has a boss portion 76 presenting a bore 77 through whichthe right end of the shaft 46 extends, the right end of the shaft beinglongitudinally split at '7? and internally threaded at St). A screw 82having a tapered portion 82a is threaded into the bore so that the splitend of the shaft 46 may be spread when the screw is threaded into theshaft, thus locking the arm '75 in any desired position relative to theshaft 46. That is, the screw 32 may be loosened and the arm 75 rotatedon the shaft 26 to the desired position of adjustment, after which thescrew 82 is tightened to spread the split end of the shaft 46 intolocking engagement with the bore 77.

A shaft is journaled in the axial bore 91 of arm 75. A collar 94 issecured on the protruding top end of the shaft by a nut 92, the collarcarrying a handle 96 to facilitate manually rotating the shaft relativeto the arm 75.

A cutter-carrying arm 98 has a bored boss portion 99 secured on thebottom end of shaft 96, the arm curving outwardly and downwardly fromthe boss portion, so that rotation of shaft swings about the properradius, and pivotally carries a cutter member generally denoted 10% atits bottom end.

The cutter-carrying arm 98 has a cross bore 102 adjacent its bottom endin which a bearing member 104 is retained by a screw 105. The cutterelement has a shank 196 which may be swaged or friction fitted into asleeve 1% which is rotatably fitted into the bearing 104. The bearing 1Mand sleeve 108 have opposed bearing races to receive roller bearingmembers 110. The cutter housing has bifurcations 117 between which thecutter wheel 12f) rotatably fits, the cutter wheel having an axial bore121 in which there are engaged the right angular end portions 124 of aU-shaped spring member 126, the cross portion of the spring memberpassing through a corresponding hole 127 in the cutter housing, whilethe right angular portions of the spring passes through correspondingholes 129 in the cutter housing. At the rear or left of the cutterhousing there is an extension portion 13%) which extends throughabearing ring 132, the bearing ring and the extension portion 13%)providing opposed ball races for the balls 134. The cutting edge of thecutter wheel 12% must have a radius larger than the radius of the curvedportion of member 68 for accurate shaping and pantographing.

Thus it will be seen that the cutter assembly 1% is freely rotatableabout an axis normal to the arm 93 so that the cutter may truly followthe proper course in cutting the lens L which is rotated relative to thecutter wheel.

A torsion spring 140 anchored at one end to the arm 75 and anchored atits other end to the shaft 9% biases the latter shaft in acounterclockwise direction.

Operation When my attachment is in inoperative position, the arms 55 and'75 are swung to the broken line position of FIG. 3, the shaft 46 beingheld in that position by the spring-loaded plunger 38 engaging theflattened portion 49 of said shaft. When it is desired to operate theattachment, the lens L is engaged between the chucks, the template ismounted and the arms 55 and '75 are then swung to the position shown inFIGS. 1 and 2, and the full line position of FIG. 3, in which thetemplate-engaging member 68 engages the template and the cutter wheelengages the lens, the cutter wheel being normally lightly urged againstthe lens by the spring 149. During the cutting operation, the operator,by manually manipulating the handle 96, rotates the shaft 96 and swingsthe arm 93 to the extent necessary to apply the desired cutting pressureof the cutter against the lens, this pressure being manually maintainedduring the lens-cutting operation. Before the cutting commences, the arm75 is rotatably adjusted and locked in the desired position on the shaft46 to generally determine the diameter of the cut in the lens andmeticulous adjustments of the diameter of the cut may be further made byrotating the screw 65, which has calibrations 145 which may becoordinated with a marker 146 on the outer end of the rod 73.

I claim:

1. A lens shape-cutting attachment for a lens edging machine whichedging machine has a body rotatably carrying a power driven template andpower driven lens holding chucks, said attachment comprising a postadapted to be secured to the top of said body behind said chucks, atubular cross member carried by the top end portion of said post, a mainshaft journaled in said cross member for rotation about an axis parallelto the longitudinal axis of said chucks, a template engageable armsecured on one end of said shaft, and extending radially therefrom, acutter positioning arm rotatably adjustably secured on the other end ofsaid main shaft, a second shaft extending axially in and rotatablerelative to said cutter positioning arm, said latter shaft having alaterally offset outer end extension, a lens cutter mounting membercarried by and projecting radially from the outer end portion of saidextension and being rotatable relative thereto about an axis normal tothe longitudinal axis of said extension, a lens cutter carried by saidmember, manually operable means carried by the inner end portion of saidsecond shaft for manually rotating said second shaft whereby to urgesaid cutter in cutting engagement with a lens carried by said chucks;said arms being swingable with rotation of said main shaft betweentemplate engaging and lens cutting positions and an inoperative positionnot obstructing normal access to and operation of said lens edgingmachine.

2. The attachment of claim 1 which additionally includes spring loadedmeans operatively associated with said main shaft for releasablyretaining said main shaft in said last mentioned position.

3. The attachment of claim 1 which additionally includes spring meansoperatively associated with said main shaft to bias said templateengaging arm into engagement with said template when said cutter is incutting engagement with said lens.

4. The attachment ofclaim 1 which additionally includes spring meansbiasing said second shaft to cause said cutter to be yieldably urgedagainst said lens.

5. The attachment of claim 1 wherein said lens cutter is round and ismounted on said cutter mounting member'for rotation relative theretoabout an axis transverse thereof.

6'. A lens shape-cutting attachment for a lens edging machine whichedging machine has a body rotatably carrying a power driven template andpower driven lens holding chucks, said attachment comprising a postadapted to be secured to the top of said body behind said chucks, atubular cross member carried by the top end portion of said post, a mainshaft journaled in said cross member for rotation about an axis parallelto the longitudinal axis of said chucks, a template engageable armsecured on one end of said shaft, and extending radially therefrom, acutter positioning arm rotatably adjustably secured on the other end ofsaid main shaft, a second shaft extending axially in and rotatablerelative to said cutter positioning arm, said second shaft having alaterally offset outer end extension, a bifurcated bracket rotatablycarried by, projecting radially from and rotatable about an axis normalto the longitudinal axis of the outer end portion of said extension, alens cutting wheel rotatably carried by said bracket in position to havecutting engagement with a surface of a lens carried by said chucks, ahandle member carried by the inner end portion of said second shaft formanually rotating said second shaft whereby to urge said cutter intocutting engagement with a lens carried by said chucks; said arms beingswingable with rotation of said main shaft between template engaging andlens cutting positions and an inoperative position not obstructingnormal access to and operation of said lens edging machine.

7. The attachment of claim 6 wherein said bracket is journaled in rollerbearings carried by said extension.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,395,376 Long Feb. 19, 1946 2,410,443 Hoffer Nov. 5, 1946' 3,014,314Novak Dec. 26, 1961

1. A LENS SHAPE-CUTTING ATTACHMENT FOR A LENS EDGING MACHINE WHICHEDGING MACHINE HAS A BODY ROTATABLY CARRYING A POWER DRIVEN TEMPLATE ANDPOWER DRIVEN LENS HOLDING CHUCKS, SAID ATTACHMENT COMPRISING A POSTADAPTED TO BE SECURED TO THE TOP OF SAID BODY BEHIND SAID CHUCKS, ATUBULAR CROSS MEMBER CARRIED BY THE TOP END PORTION OF SAID POST, A MAINSHAFT JOURNALED IN SAID CROSS MEMBER FOR ROTATION ABOUT AN AXIS PARALLELTO THE LONGITUDINAL AXIS OF SAID CHUCKS, A TEMPLATE ENGAGEABLE ARMSECURED ON ONE END OF SAID SHAFT, AND EXTENDING RADIALLY THEREFROM, ACUTTER POSITIONING ARM ROTATABLY ADJUSTABLY SECURED ON THE OTHER END OFSAID MAIN SHAFT, A SECOND SHAFT EXTENDING AXIALLY IN AND ROTATABLERELATIVE TO SAID CUTTER POSITIONING ARM, SAID LATTER SHAFT HAVING ALATERALLY OFFSET OUTER END EXTENSION, A LENS CUTTER MOUNTING MEMBERCARRIED BY AND PROJECTING A RADIALLY FROM THE OUTER END PORTION OF SAIDEXTENSION AND BEING ROTATABLE RELATIVE THERETO ABOUT AN AXIS NORMAL TOTHE LONGITUDINAL AXIS OF SAID EXTENSION, A LENS CUTTER CARRIED BY SAIDMEMBER, MANUALLY OPERABLE MEANS CARRIED BY THE INNER END PORTION OF SAIDSECOND SHAFT FOR MANUALLY ROTATING SAID SECOND SHAFT WHEREBY TO URGESAID CUTTER IN CUTTING ENGAGEMENT WITH A LENS CARRIED BY SAID CHUCKS;SAID ARMS BEING SWINGABLE WITH ROTATION OF SAID MAIN SHAFT BETWEENTEMPLATE ENGAGING AND LENS CUTTING POSTIONS AND AN INOPERATIVE POSITIONNOT OBSTRUCTING NORMAL ACCESS TO AND OPERATION OF SAID LENS EDGINGMACHINE.